1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food handling tongs and particularly to food handling tongs which are in the form of a pair of extra wide, spring loaded spatulas for ease in handling grilled foodstuffs.
Barbecuing or grilling food allows a wide range of foodstuffs to be cooked, such as burgers, hot dogs, chicken, kabobs, ribs, and much more. Grilled food has a distinct, popular flavor and has numerous health benefits. Grilled food has become increasingly popular because of the flavor and the health advantages associated with grilling food as opposed to cooking by other means. The popularity of grilled food among home consumers has also prompted commercial restaurants to offer an increasing number of grilled menu items.
Despite the advancement in popularity of grilled food, cooking utensils currently used for grilling have remained primitive and suffer from several drawbacks. The most common cooking utensil used for grilling is the conventional spatula. However, turning an item of food on the grill using a spatula is difficult, as the spatula must be slid between the grill surface and the food item. Often times a user may have difficulty cleanly picking up food from the grill surface. The spatula also does not allow one to easily check how completely cooked an item is without a series of flips. When cooking delicate food items, repeated flipping with a spatula can deteriorate the integrity and appearance of the food.
Another commonly used utensil for grilling is the conventional set of traditional kitchen tongs. Such conventional tongs are not well suited for many commonly grilled foodstuffs. Use of such tongs often causes the same problems as the spatula when picking up or separating food items from a grill surface. Further, because of the directionality of the tongs, use in grilling requires the operator to manipulate the operating hand in an uncomfortable wrist position when handling the food.
There is currently no single utensil that is well suited for all types of foodstuffs that may be cooked on a grill simultaneously. The present invention addresses this need. Consequently, the present invention contemplates a combination spatula and tong device for grilling and cooking purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Several patents have been granted dealing with cooking and grilling utensils. However, such patents have not addressed the issue of handling larger grilled food items. Such inventions have focused on grease removal or serve as an all in one grilling and cleaning tool. Thus, while several cooking and grilling utensils exist in the prior art, there remains a need for a single utensil that is useful for preparing the full variety of foods that may be cooked on a grill, and one that does not suffer from the drawbacks of currently available devices. The present invention is a cooking tool that allows easier maneuvering of food and inspection thereof.
Several patents have issued for general grilling tongs or spatulas. Rader U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,365 is directed to tongs for handling food items upon a grill in which the food gripping parts of the tongs are displaced laterally as well as apart when opened to enable the user of the tongs to see the food item as it is being gripped by the tongs. Similarly, Mullen U.S. Design Patent No. D526,543 is directed to an ornamental design for a dual spatula with wide thongs. Kaiser U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,323 is similarly directed to a cooking tong apparatus for handling food items on a grill. The cooking tong apparatus has a first and second jaw for gripping, wherein each jaw has a plurality of tines that are properly spaced apart and sized to fit between standard grill slats. The cooking tong apparatus has a first and second handle that lie in a horizontal plane, allowing a user to operate the cooking tong apparatus in a manner that is most comfortable for the user's hand and wrist. The Rader, Mullen and Kaiser inventions provide slight variations on general-purpose tongs, but fail to address the issues related to the grilling of larger food items. The present invention provides wider, fan shaped tongs that permit the flipping of any grilled foodstuff without the risk of deteriorating integrity or appearance of the food.
McIntosh U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,909 is directed to a food-handling device and probe for determining the interior temperature of the food being handled. The device resembles a pair of tongs that not only carry a temperature-sensing probe with visual signal and gauge, but also carry a structure that positions the probe into the middle of the food being gripped by the tongs. Thus, the device senses the food article's temperature at the midpoint of its thickness, providing improved and reliable information as to the thoroughness of the cooking. The McIntosh invention addresses the issue of thoroughly cooking a food item and inspecting the temperature thereof, but fails to address the issue of an improved means for turning or flipping larger grilled items.
Other patents are directed to removing excess grease from cooking food by compression. Kozlinski U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,009 is directed to food handling tongs that include opposing upper and lower plates pivotally mounted. The upper plate provides a plurality of apertures surrounded by upwardly facing conical portions. The lower plate is provided with a plurality of similar apertures, each surrounded by downward facing conical portions. In use, food is pressed between the upper and lower plates, causing the fat and grease to be squeezed out of the food and directed through the apertures in the upper and lower plates. The goal is to reduce the fat content of the food, providing a healthier diet. Similarly, LaBoccetta U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,741 is directed to a food handling spatula-tong device that provides a means of picking up food and expressing excess oil or fat from the food prior to serving. The spatula-tong device is comprised of a pair of pivotally connected members with food compressing members mounted to an end of each pair of the pivotally connected members. Each of the food-compressing members is provided with apertures that are not aligned with apertures along the opposite compressing member. Both rectangular and triangularly shaped compressing members are utilized to adapt the tongs to various types of foods, including pizza. The compressing plates may be interchangeably and removeably mounted to the tongs. The upper plate is pivotally mounted to the tongs to provide maximum compressing force.
Both the Kozlinski and LaBoccetta inventions address the issue of healthier cooking through the removal of grease from grilled food. They both compress the food to drain excess grease and fat. However, both do not address the need for an improved means of turning or flipping larger food items, as described by the present invention does.
Other inventions have been directed to multipurpose grilling tools. Walde U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,721 is directed to a multi-functional adjustable grip barbeque tong assembly with an adjustable separation limiter that controls how far apart the handles separate. The assembly includes a dual-spatula tong, beveled cutting edges, tines that fit between and below the slats of a barbeque grill, and recesses to scrape a grill clean. The dual spatula assemblies are connected to one another by a spring action U-clip that has a limiting bolt running through the two legs. The further the limiting bolt is threaded into a threaded aperture, the closer the two legs are pulled together, thereby decreasing the distance between the connected handles and making the tongs easier to manage. The Walde invention addresses many issues related to grilling, including general cooking and cleaning of the grill, however, it does not provide a device that ensures proper flipping and turning of larger items.
While the above-mentioned devices are suited for their intended usages, none of these devices disclose a food-handling utensil having large, fan shaped set of opposing upper and lower wire spatulas for the turning and flipping larger food items. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of tongs, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for, and interest in, improvements to grilling devices. In this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.